FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. — Ian Cunningham and Ryan Poles’ first few weeks, months — even their first year — on the job as general manager and assistant general manager of the Chicago Bears weren’t what many would consider easy.

According to Kevin Fishbain, reporter for The Athletic covering the Chicago Bears, that much was obvious from the start in 2022.

“They came in and they inherited a really difficult situation,” Fishbain told the Atlanta Falcons Podcast Network at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine. “There was not a lot of cap space. There wasn’t a first-round pick. They had a lot of contracts they had to get rid of.”

It was a year that “callused” much of the Bears’ front office, Fishbain explained, but it also helped forge a path forward. It’s those early challenges that actually accumulated into Chicago’s 2025 season.

“Which really was this magical run that surprised a lot of people,” Fishbain said of the Bears’ 2025 NFC North title and first playoff game win in 15 seasons.

That run didn’t happen overnight. It started with Cunningham and Poles’ partnership — one that was established over early morning coffee runs and clearly laid out long-term planning. It began with the draft. In 2022, the Bears entered draft season with six picks and left with 11.

But as any general manager would say, it’s not always where you’re picking but who you select.

“For them, they accumulated the draft picks. They made some shrewd trades to get more draft picks moving forward,” Fishbain said. “You look at the first pick that regime made, it was Kyler Gordon, who is one of the best slot corners in football. He got an extension. The next pick was Jaquan Brisker, who will probably get a decent contract in free agency and turned out to be — when healthy — a really solid safety.”

After that year, the philosophy shifted toward building in the trenches. Both Poles and Cunningham are former offensive linemen, so it stood to reason that their first true first-round pick would come from the line of scrimmage.

That pick was Darnell Wright, who is coming off a second-team All-Pro season in 2025.

“That was their guy who they have been able to watch through this,” Fishbain said. “They were able to go through the peaks and valleys with him.”

And that’s the reality of roster building: success isn’t guaranteed or always immediate. But, according to Fishbain, Cunningham and Poles kept swinging — and that became part of their identity.